New Bomb Turks, The Drowns & Fluffio rock the Horseshoe, July 29

Eric Davidson and his Columbus punk crew New Bomb Turks promise a whumpin' good time and never fail to deliver! Check the clips below. 

New Bomb Turks still rockin' with ferocity 

NBT at CBGBs in '93 by Shawn Scallen

Watching the footage of the New Bomb Turks tearing it up for the hometown crowd at Ace Of Cups (see below) reminds me of the first time I saw Eric Davidson and his Columbus attack unit in action at the New Music Seminar in New York City way back in 1993. 

They were last on a multi-band showcase bill at CBGBs where many of New York's Lower East Side music celebs – including Sonic Youth's Kim & Thurston, Pussy Galore's Jon & Christina, among others – had gathered to see Guided By Voices play their first ever show outside of Ohio. Word was that they hadn't played a show in six years so no one knew what to expect including Mike D. from the Beastie Boys who was intrigued by what he'd heard on a mixtape put together by Matt Sweeney culled from GBV's self-released recordings to date. 

"From the tape I heard," chuckled Mike D. shaking his head, "it sounded like maybe four or five different bands. I'm curious to see which one of 'em shows up tonight." Although I had a couple of their albums, I was no more up on their recent activities than anyone else. But I suggested that it might be worthwhile to hang around for New Bomb Turks set afterwards. "New Bomb who?" he shot back, "no idea." 

By the time GBV played their final tune, it was around 2:30 am and Mike D. along with the rest of the assembled glitterati had checked out long before. Quite a few folks split during the lengthy change over and it was now close to 3 am but Ottawa-based photographer Shawn Scallen, my future Now Magazine colleague Matt Galloway and I were determined to see what the fuss was about. 

The way Eric Davidson and his slouchy NBT crew sauntered on stage, it looked as though this might not be their night. But from the first snare drum crack, a switch seemed to flip and suddenly, they were blasting away full tilt. Davidson wound the microphone cord tightly around his clenched fist and began shouting with confrontational ferocity, mugging and strutting comically during the thrashy guitar breaks then continuing to spit fire one song right into the next. 

The remaining spectators – which minutes before were wandering semi-comatose looking ready for a snooze – rushed to the stage and coalecsed into a heaving mosh pit. As anyone who has ever attended a music conference in Manhattan will tell you, that's definitely not something you typically see at these kind of events which are usually filled with jaded journalists, disinterested publicists and bored label reps, managers, agents and musicians – particularly not for a relatively unknown band at 3 am. 

Just as I turned to see if Shawn was getting this crazy action on film, a horizontal Davidson floated by me on the left, being passed around on the outstretched hands of the sweaty crowd. still hollering away while looking up at the ceiling. That's what you get when you go to a New Bomb Turks show. Check the clips below.